Saw this beautiful machaon flying around the azaleas, I ran back inside to get the camera and it was still there. That almost never happens to me 😁 Whooohooooo!!!!
An analysis of 6 years of butterfly sightings across 600 British gardens has provided the first scientific evidence that wilder lawns boost butterfly numbers.
The benefits of leaving areas of grass long were most pronounced in gardens within intensively farmed landscapes, with up to 93% more butterflies found & a greater range of species. Gardens with long grass in urban areas showed an 18% boost to butterfly abundance. #Butterflies#Environment#Biodiversity#Insects
Did I forget my little local sojourn on Tuesday looking for #butterflies around my home neighborhood? I think I did. Again not much to report. It was clear but uncommonly cool for April. Saw virtually nothing right up until the end of the walk, where I spotted a Red Admiral in an area where they tend to show up later in the day. Terrible shots BTW. He then proceeded to join two others in an aerial battle. No chance of pictures of that!!
Ho hum day for #butterflies. I did see a couple of Sulphurs and a Monarch, but no pix. The lack of small butterbirds is shocking. Today’s only (barely) recordable encounter was a lone Silvery Blue. I got tons of video but the butterfly was mostly out of focus.
I'm pretty sure this is a Gray Hairstreak that has somehow lost most of its coloration scales, but... it's possible this one didn't have them to begin with, since it otherwise seems to be in good shape. Usually the colorless #butterflies are old and battle-worn. This one looks in good shape.
I’ve not seen any #monarch#butterflies so far this spring but they’ve obviously been here. Spotted these two monarch #caterpillars yesterday on the one milkweed in my front #garden, a survivor that has regrown after dying back to the soil following our big winter freeze. Hope these make it to adulthood, the ones I saw last year disappeared before pupating.
So-so day at Copper Canyon for #butterflies. Saw a couple of Admirals near the creek, Orangetips walking up the “snakey trail”, and a lone Silvery Blue near the top of a still-wet ravine. And Oh yeah a very small Buckeye in the field in front of the trailhead. Nothing really big today.